Chapter Text
“What the fuck? That was an Asgard transporter. Maine has a ship up there! Where’s McKay? McKay!”
“Up in the control room, Sheppard.”
“Thanks Ronon. McKay!”
“I heard you the first time. I’m on it. Scanning now.”
“C’mon, c’mon. Faster.”
“John, I can understand your frustration, but it’s going as fast as it can.”
“Can you, McKay, can you really understand my frustration. That asshole waltzes in here and just takes one of my men hostage. I’m way past frustration. That asshole is going to die.”
“Sheppard, calm down.”
“John, listen to Ronon. This isn’t doing Major Lorne any good. And he’s my friend too. We’ll get him back.”
“Dammit, I’m sorry Rodney. That was unfair. It’s my fault, I knew Maine was up to something. Hell, O’Neill warned me. I should have made Lorne go with Gar.”
“Shit, Gar. Thinks he knows Colonel?”
“Yes, Rodney. I definitely think he does. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t on his way here. We need to get Evan back now.”
“Scans nearly complete. There they are. What kind of ship is that? That’s not an Earth ship. Scans are indicating Ancient but it’s not any shape I’ve seen.”
“Can you stop it Rodney?”
“I’m trying, I’m trying but its shields are…Oh dammit!”
“What? What now?”
“It’s gone Sheppard, it just blinked out. I might be able to track it.”
“Get on it, Rodney and I’ll try to intercept a pissed off dragon before he rips Atlantis apart.”
……………………………………………….
“Colonel Caldwell, Sir. I have Colonel Sheppard on the line for you.”
“Colonel Sheppard, what can I do for you?”
“Sir, I need the Daedalus in the air.”
“What, why?”
“Colonel Maine has just taken Major Lorne hostage, at gunpoint, and beamed him to a ship that was in orbit.”
“Are they still there?”
“No, they vanished. The ship is an unknown. So, it may have unknown technology. McKay’s trying to track it.”
“We’ll be in the air soon, Colonel. I hope McKays got co-ordinates for us when we do.”
“Me too. Thank you.”
“We’ll find him Colonel. Caldwell out. Sergeant.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Call the crew back. And commence the start-up procedures. We need to beat our record.”
“Yes, Sir!”
………………………………………………….
“Lieutenant Coughlin, this is Sheppard.”
“Coughlin here, Sir.”
“Where are you?”
“The Pier, Sir.”
“Stay there, Gar’s on his way back. Lieutenant, we’ve had a situation in the gate room. Maine was beamed to a ship in orbit. Tom, he took Lorne with him at gunpoint.”
“Shit! What? Is the Major okay?”
“We don’t know, we’ve not heard from them. I need to stay in the gate room, cause if they contact us, it will be through the stargate as the ship’s not in orbit anymore.”
“And you need me to head off Gar Sir.”
“You’re the only person on Atlantis at the moment that is best qualified to do so. At least you have the ability to reason with him.”
“Reason with an annoyed dragon, Sir?”
“Well, as much as an annoyed dragon will listen. So, yes, Lieutenant.”
“And try to stop him doing anything rash, Sir.”
“You’re getting it, Coughlin.”
“Yes, Sir. How we going to get the Major back?”
“Hopefully when Rodney gets a route for us then we’ll get the opportunity to do something rash.”
“That’s good to hear, Sir”
…………………………………………………….
“General O’Neill, this is Atlantis. General Braddock would like to speak to you on a secure line, Sir.”
“Patch him through, Peters.”
“Patching him now, Sir.”
“Braddy, you’re on a secure line. How’s Atlantis treating you? Thought you were heading back today?”
“Jack, shit, I dropped the ball on this one.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re bringing Lorne back to Earth. That wasn’t the plan.”
“No, no, not that. The hearing went fine. Charges were minimal, all to be served on Atlantis. No, it was just now as we were leaving, that weasel Maine took Lorne hostage.”
“What the fuck? How’s that gonna benefit him. Sheppard’s gonna go apeshit.”
“Maine somehow has a ship and Asgard beaming technology. If he’s got access to all that, then this goes way deeper than we initially suspected.”
“Dammit, I knew I shouldn’t have sent him. Didn’t have enough evidence to support refusing him. At least now I’ve got grounds to start an investigation. Can you send Daniel back, I need his giant brain?”
“We’re all going to come back. There’re enough people here to rip the Pegasus Galaxy apart finding Major Lorne and anyway, Caldwell’s not letting me on the Daedalus.”
“You do know he’s a Colonel, General.”
“Funny. His exact words were ‘You are one of the few decent four stars and be best if you went and kicked some butts on Earth’.”
“He’s not wrong. But I’m surprised Mitchell’s coming back. He and Lorne are close.”
“Mitchell’s not happy about it but it’s why I’m borrowing your SG1 commander. While I’m kicking butts, he’s going to be punching them in the face.”
“Good. Your first point of contact’s going to be Harrington. Him and Maine have been thick as thieves over the last two weeks.”
“Fine, I never liked the man. Oh, Jack, there’s something we’ve missed.”
“What now?”
“Who was Maine representing?”
“What do you mean? He was representing The Office of the President of th...oh shit.”
“Yup, better contact the White House, Jack.”
……………………………………………………
“Gar, please calm down. Stop roaring. I need to tell you what we’re doing. Gar?”
*Ev*
“Yes, the Major. He got beamed to a ship in orbit. No! You cannot fly there, Gar. Stop bunching your wings like that. I know you’re preparing to take off.”
*Ev, where?*
“The ship isn’t there anymore. Please calm down. We are trying to track him, Gar. Listen to me, we will get him back. I promise.”
*I no find Ev*
“What? Sorry I don’t understand that one. What do you mean?”
*Gar look. Ev not there*
“What in the between?”
*Yes, Ev far away*
“It’s a ship we’ve never seen before, but McKay is figuring out a way to track it. Look that’s the Daedalus firing up, they’re heading out to search.”
*Gar go?*
“No, I’m sorry you can’t. Neither can we, Gar. Sometimes soldiers have to be patient. We will be called if they need us.”
*It shit*
“What?”
*It shit*
“Um, yes. But you are part of our team so we will wait with you. And if a part of the team is required to assist, we will support them. Understand.”
*Yes, I wait and team wait*
“Thank you, Gar. C’mon we will gather the team. I also need to talk to Ortiz about certain sign language teachings.”
*Still shit*
“Totally agree, Gar. Totally agree. It shit.”
…………………………………………………
“Sir, the gate’s receiving a signal.”
“Who is it Peters?”
“Strange, there’s no gate address, Sir.”
“How can that be. Raise the shield.”
“Yes, Sir. Gate engaging now. Audio only signal coming through.”
“Sheppard, you there?”
“Maine, you bastard. What the hell are you thinking. You angling for your own court martial, cause I’m damn sure they will throw away the key for this one. Where’s Major Lorne?”
“The good Major is with me right now. We’re enjoying a little space jaunt.”
“I want to speak to him.”
“Now Sheppard, I don’t like your tone. You know you’re not in charge at the moment. Ask nicely and I’ll see if he’s available.”
“Dammit, you’re an asshole. Can I please speak to Major Lorne?”
“Oh, did I forget to tell you that I have a rank and I want you to use it. In fact, I’ve given myself a field promotion. It’s now general. So, ask nicely and remember the rank.”
“Oh for fucks sake. Okay I’ll play this game. General Maine, can I please talk to Major Lorne.”
“Wait. I’ll just check. Nope, ‘fraid not Sheppard. He came aboard with a bit of an attitude, think he’s spent too much time with that dragon, so we had to calm him down for his own safety. He’s currently napping. I’ll take a message though.”
“You bastard.”
“Tut, tut, that’s no way to address a general, Sheppard. But enough about me, time to talk about you.”
“What do you mean, Maine?”
“If you recall, I had a bit of time to explore your poky base at the arse end of this galaxy. You really shouldn’t let people with plans, run round your base. Well, let’s just say there’s a bomb. A big one. So, it goes like this, I have some demands, you sort them out, and I won’t blow you all up. Simple.”
“What do you want?”
“God, Sheppard, you can’t be that dumb. I have the main player; I now want one of the supporting acts. It’s not hard to work out.”
“You want Gar.”
“How cute that it has a name. And, yes, I want it. You get it to a planet that I will give you the gate address for, and you get to keep your insignificant base intact.”
“He doesn’t fit through the gate, Maine.”
“It’s your stupid fault for feeding it then. Stick it on the Daedalus then, I don’t care.”
“I’m not giving up another member of my team.”
“Fucks sake, Sheppard. It’s two evolutionary steps away from a lizard. You willing to risk your base for that. I will call back in two hours, maybe you’ll have realised that by then.”
“I need confirmation that Major Lorne is alive.”
“You’ve pissed me off, so no. I’ll need another therapy session now and I have to wait until my punching bag is awake. Is that confirmation enough.”
“Maine!”
“Sir, the signal’s gone. Gate’s shutting down.”
“McKay, please tell me that you got something.”
“What, apart from the sheer insanity that came through in that call. Maine’s lost it.”
“I know, I could tell. And he’s got Lorne. So, we need anything.”
“Well thankfully insane megalomaniacs like to talk, meaning the line was open long enough that I have their ships signature. Now I need a directional.”
“How do we get that.”
“I’ve got two hours to figure that out, don’t I.”
…………………………………………………………………
“Rodney, dragon is roaring. Why does dragon roar. What has happened?”
“Radek, I don’t have time for this. Crazy Colonel Maine has taken Lorne hostage, beamed him up to a ship and is now demanding Gar. Oh, and there’s possibly a bomb on Atlantis.”
“So, it is Tuesday, then.”
“Radek!”
“Sorry, bad humour. I joke when I panic. It helps.”
“What, nevermind. I can’t find the bomb and I can’t find Major Lorne. Nothing is helping. Everything I do, I need more information about. I don’t even know what kind of bomb.”
“Rodney, you think too high at times. Look for bomb where bomb wasn’t.”
“Make sense, Radek. We don’t have time for riddles.”
“Scan city. Compare city to scan from last week. Look for change. So maybe bomb.
“Okay, okay, that might work. Running scan now.”
“Now find the Major. Dragon not sound happy.”
“I wish I could. I know the ship’s signature and could pick it out of a million ships but space is big Radek.”
“You need directional then. Use tracker when gate opens.”
“What?”
“You put tracker on Major Lorne. No?”
“I did, didn’t I.”
“Was that a question?”
“He’s still wearing it. I would have known if he’d taken it off. I can use that.”
“See, jokes work.”
…………………………………………………………
“Colonel Sheppard. Are you there?”
“Yes, Maine. I’m here. I want to talk to Lorne now.”
“Ah, ah, ah, remember what I said.”
“I’m going to kill you, you know that. General Maine, please can I talk to Major Lorne?”
“Yes, definitely. Just let me go and get him...Oh, damn, looks like the Majors down for another nap. Do you know he’s missing all this wonderful space. I know he so wanted to see it but unfortunately, we just jabbed a huge needle into his thigh and he went out like a light. The boy does like his sleep.”
“You absolute asshole. You will fry for this.”
“Enough with the threats, Sheppard. Have you gift wrapped my present? I’m so looking forward to seeing it.”
“Yes, the dragon is on the Daedalus. They’re orbiting this planet now. Where are they going?”
“Sending the coordinates now.”
“Sir, this is what’s just come through.”
“Maine, these coordinates are for the middle of the quadrant. There’s nothing there.”
“Sheppard unlike you, I’m not stupid. Do you think I’m going to give you the planets location so you have time to set up an ambush? Now get one of your pet scientists to work out how long the Daedalus will take to get there?
“McKay?”
“About five hours, Colonel.”
“Five hours, Maine.”
“Good god, they should’ve called it the dead, slow and stop. Five hours, jeez, I’ll be back in touch then.”
“Maine! I want Major Lorne unharmed or the deal’s off.”
“Oops, should have said that at the start, Sheppard. But, don’t worry your dumb little head, it’s not as much fun to break one of his fingers when he’s unconscious. I should know, even though it cracked beautifully. I much preferred it when he was awake. Though I thought he would have screamed louder. Gonna test it with a knee after his nap. I’ll be in touch.”
“Signal’s gone, Sir.”
“God-damn fucking asshole. I will fucking kill him.”
“Colonel, calm down. And please don’t throw my tablet. He’s saying these to rile you. And it’s working.”
“Too damn true it’s working, Rodney. I would love to hear that you think Maine’s left Evan unharmed, but I suspect we both know that’s not true.”
“He is sounding more unhinged. But I have a location.”
“What? Why you didn’t tell me.”
“You were in mid-Rambo mode. He won’t be there now as the ship can do a weird jump thing, but I can extrapolate the vectors and with its destination point known I should know where it is.”
“Thank God. Good work Rodney. I’ll contact Caldwell, get him to pick us up at a gate planet. I need to be on the Daedalus.”
“You and most of Atlantis, I suspect.”
…………………………………………………………………….
- user compatibility identified
- user interface active
- user sign in
- user sign in
- user sign in
- user sign in
- user sign in
What? What’s happening, Gar, is that you?
- user acknowledged; state designation
Who is this?
- state designation
Um, Major Evan Lorne.
- scanning Major Evan Lorne; scanning complete; user authorised;
Where am I?
- section 23.327; grid 45.987; region 34879.761.890
What?
- section 23.327; grid 45.987; region 34879.761.890
I heard you the first time. Who are you?
- official designation; seed ship 347
What’s a seed ship?
-primary objective; manufacture and disperse starcircles to viable planets
Starcircles, do you mean stargates?
- unknown parameter
Are you the ship I’m currently on?
- user Major Evan Lorne is present on seed ship 347; current status – unconscious; injury list; yes/no
Let’s go with yes. Fucker came at me with a needle.
- two distal phalanges closed full fractures; three costae partial fractures; upper leg puncture wound; multiple contusions; blood loss minor; outcome – survivable 100%.
Good to hear. But that bastard broke another finger. Fucker.
- unknown parameter
Who is also on the ship apart from me?
- scan complete; five terran lifeforms.
Do you have weapons?
- affirmative; 6 turret guns; 3467 drones; 1 star cannon
Good, but I was thinking smaller.
- negative; internal defensive capabilities present
Sounds promising. Can you show me?
- affirmative; download complete
Woah, that was a head rush. Holy crap the Ancients were vicious if you boarded their ships.
- unknown parameter
Can you help me wake up? What did they give me?
- scan complete; components identified; C13H17Cl2NO, CHCl3, C…
Stop. I get the idea. Can you get them out of my system?
- affirmative; cleansing scan required to remove components; warning; against medical advice; side effects; yes/no
Let’s go with no. Beckett will kill me but he’s got to find me first. Ship 347, can’t call you that. What’s your name?
- unknown parameter
Were you called anything apart from Ship 347?
- common designation; Trinity.
Good to meet you Trinity, I’m Evan.
- User Major Evan Lorne replaced with Evan.
Right let’s get back to getting out of here. I opt for the ‘electrified deck plating to render unconscious’ defensive mechanism. Hopefully it will hurt them a lot. Can you isolate the section I’m on?
- affirmative; action now; yes/no
Not yet. Can you show me navigation and weapons?
- affirmative; download complete
God, my head feels full. You’re some ship. Can I still talk to you when I’m awake?
- affirmative; connection completed in theta wave subconscious state; successful
Will they hear you?
- negative; interface required through subconscious theta wave with compatible users
Um, okay. Anything you can do about the handcuffs?
- scan complete; affirmative; full restraint removal available; warning; against medical advice; consequences; yes/no
Yes, this time. Don’t want to lose a hand.
- minor burns; minor blisters; outcome; survivable 100%
That’s fine. Not the worst I’ve had today. Proceed restraint removal.
- WARNING potential threat WARNING
What the hell?
- current jump vector; location 34.567; five potential hostile vessels detected; information yes/no
Yes
- scan complete; Iratus variation lifeforms 8748; terrans 48; hostile vessel weapons; yes/no
Damn, it’s the Wraith. And no, I know exactly what weapons they have. Do you have shields?
- affirmative
Put shields up as soon as we arrive. Arrival time?
- 4.987 minutes
Recovery time from cleansing scan?
- 6.234 minutes
Hold off on the electrocution for now but I need to be awake. Initiate cleansing scan, please.
- starting cleansing scan